— 50 — J- 



glacial acetic acid solution acquires a deep violet colour within 5 minutes, 

 the presence of gurjun balsam oil is to be assumed. 



Coriander Oil. It is true that in the course of the summer a few 

 considerable parcels of Russian oil made their appearance, but these in 

 •no way affected the position of the market and the price remained un- 

 altered. The reports which have recently been received from Russia, and 

 which speak of a poor crop, have also failed to make any impression 

 and the article continues to suffer from the neglect to which reference 

 has already been made in the past. It would appear that considerable 

 supplies still exist in second hands. Unfortunately Russia is the 'only 

 producing centre which" counts. 



Cubeb Oil. Suitable parcels of cubebs have been offering very 

 sparingly and when they made their appearance high prices had to be 

 paid for them. Hence our quotations for cubeb oil have remained un- 

 changed and high during the summer. The high prices, however, have 

 had no effect at all on the demand. 



We learn from an article by J. C. Umney and H. V. Potter 1 ) that a 

 parcel of cubebs imported from Macassar into Amsterdam, and distilled 

 there, yielded an oil which attracted attention by its extraordinarily low 

 optical rotation. Whereas this value ranges normally from — 25 to — 40 O2 ), 

 in the oil in question it was only — 14°. The cubebs themselves appeared 

 to be in most respects normal, but the odour was mace-like. 



The abnormality of this oil led the authors to make some enquiries as 

 to the cubebs present on the London and Amsterdam drug markets, with 

 the unsatisfactory result that out of eight samples examined, only four 

 proved to be genuine cubebs. Three samples consisted of other species 

 of cubebs, while one contained an admixture of other fruits. Part of the 

 samples was also largely adulterated with stalks, in one instance to the 

 extent of 46 p. c. The spurious cubebs differed from the genuine both by 

 their mace-like odour and by the result of the sulphuric acid test. For 

 when the fruit, crushed in a porcelain basin, was moistened with a little 

 concentrated sulphuric acid, the genuine samples quickly showed a be- 

 autiful crimson colour, while in the case of the false fruits the colour tffl 

 was yellowish brown. It is stated that the difference is still more easily 

 perceptible in the ethereal extract of the fruit, of which extract, moreover, 

 the genuine cubebs yield more (20 to 25 p. c.) than does the spurious 

 fruit (only about 15 p. a). There was also a difference in the microsco- 

 pical characters of the various species. 



!) Chemist and Druggist 80 (1912), 331, 443. 



2 ) Umney and Potter give — 30° as the maximum limit of value. This is probably a 

 misprint. 



